I Don't Believe in Neverland
by SerendiKitty
Summary: Angel Darling is a junior in high school. Although there are social aspects of high school life that she struggles with, she's determined to get through the hellhole to an ivy league with scholarship. That was before she met the notorious Peter Pan and his mischievous gang who calls themselves the "pirates". (Sorry I haven't updated in a while I'll do that ASAP!)
1. Chapter 1

Angel Darling ran down the damp alleyway, dodging trashcans and jumping over cardboard boxes. Her rain boots did little to keep the rain water out as icy drop from her plaid skirt slid down her legs. She regretted her decision not to run across the room to grab her umbrella as she ran over a puddle, splashing brown water all around her and caking her navy blue boots.

She looked down at her hello kitty wrist watch she had kept since 3rd grade to check the time. Two minutes before class.

Clenching her teeth, she willed her legs to move faster. Even as the captain of the school's track team, she wasn't sure if she was going to make it.

As she turned another corner, she saw a gray slab of stone with the words "Barrie High School". Behind the stone were five brick building scattered about in a careless manner, as if the architects decided to amuse themselves by throwing models of building in random directions and build the buildings wherever they landed.

"Almost there," Angel muttered as she swung past the white iron fence and flew up the cement stairs that led to the big glass doors to the science building. She kicked the door open and franticly ran down the almost deserted hallway. She didn't bother stopping at her locker but ran straight at her first period class. The classroom door was beginning to slowly shut-

Angel stuck her foot between the door and the door frame and pushed the wooden door open, almost slamming it in Mr. Barnard's face.

"Miss Darling," he took a step back, startled by state of Angel. She looked like she went through the washing machine. Twice. A giggle swept across the classroom and angel felt her cheeks getting even hotter than they were.

"I'm…Not…Late…" Angel wheezed for oxygen, trying to blink away the black fuzziness forming around her vision. Water dripped down from her brown hair onto her already soaked white blouse.

"Do you want to go see the nurse to see if you can get dry clothes?" Mr. Barnard's brows knitted together in a worried frown.

"No," Angel panted, trying to get rid of the shaky feeling of embarrassment. The class was definitely going to talk about her if she left, "I'm fine."

"Suit yourself," he shrugged, "Take your seat."

She started heading for her seat but stopped after two steps. Her shoes made squeaking noise of rubber against linoleum every time she walked. Angel heard murmur and snickering of a few students and immediately felt self-conscious. She cursed her boots for being made of rubber. She cursed the stupid clouds that decided to rain today. She cursed the stupid alarm clock that didn't work this morning. She cursed-

Mr. Barnard coughed, "Miss Darling."

"Oh, right," closing her eyes, Angel squeaked her way to her seat and sat down, trying to block out the noises of her humiliation.

"Alright class, take out your homework," Mr. Barnard walked to his chalk board and began scrawling important looking words onto the board.

Angel reached into her backpack and her fingers didn't come into contact with paper. She rummaged around desperately, knowing that she had pored over the answers for three hours the day before. The students around her passed in their homework into the plastic bin labelled "homework".

Her day could not have gotten any worse.

*****  
This is my first fanfiction :D ^_^ Thank you for reading it through (if you reached the end without falling asleep o_o) and thank you for clicking(?) if you didn't manage to finish it D: *sits in corner sadly* ...I hope you enjoyed it ^_^

I'll update the chapters soon~ :)


	2. Chapter 2

By the time lunch rolled around, Angel was exhausted. She staggered to the table where a familiar figure was sitting alone. He had dark brown hair that swept across his forehead and he wore black rimmed glasses that never distracted whoever he was talking to from his dark chocolate colored eyes. His once boyish features had evolved into those of a mature man; the cheeks were no longer round and pale but developed into a nicely angled jaw with slight stubbles. His voice, once almost like a girl, deepened to a low bass.

Angel and Michael had been friends ever since they met in first grade. Angel was the new awkward kid that didn't know how to fit in and Michael was the awkward chubby boy who smelled like milk. On her first day of school, several girls from her class cornered her in the bathroom and stole her backpack. Her memory of their faces was fuzzy and she could barely recall a single name. But what she did remember was that Michael had retrieved her backpack from the dumpster and had been waiting outside the girl's bathroom door until she came out about half an hour later. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

Once their eyes made contact, they understood the suffering that the other child had to go through. It wasn't fair for them to be treated in such ways but they were determined to make it through. Together.

Flash forward to 8th grade. Michael had moved in with his aunt when his parents had to deal with a messy divorce. That was the loneliest year of Angel's life. After two months into school, her mom began to think that homeschooling might be the better choice for her and she was homeschooled for three years.

She had tried to tell mother that she wasn't ready, that public school wasn't for her. If she was going to be sent to a school, she wanted to go to a private one where she could fit in into the uniformity.

Who was she kidding? Her family didn't have money for that.

Junior year was Angel's first year back and the first week of school was terrifying for her. Everything she did felt awkward and she was embarrassed very easily. Although she had gotten second glances from people and comments saying that she had changed, everyone had already settled for their friend groups and was unwilling to open up their circles of cult.

And Michael, it turned out, had returned to the town a year later, in his freshman year, but had never bothered to visit. Never called. Never tried to contact her.

And that hurt a lot.

Angel felt vulnerable in this institution called "public school" but she knew with time, it would become a routine and she would be able to ignore everyone.

Besides, she had college to look forward to. Angel had a GPA of 4.7 and a perfect SAT score of 2400. If she just tried a little harder and endured a little longer, the loneliness will end and she will be able to find others like her. Others who could be her friends.


	3. Chapter 3

Angel wanted desperately to call out Michael's name. To try and pretend that he had never hurt her. Maybe he had a valid excuse for the long period of silence from him that made her wonder if he was even alive. The sound of other students in the cafeteria sounded like a distant buzzing as she watched Michael prop his feet up on the table and flipped through a paperback novel.

A girl in tiger patterned tank top and short jeans appeared out of nowhere and sat down next to Michael, her arm instantly intertwining with his.

Introducing Lily. She always claims that she's special because she's 1/8th or 1/6th, depending on the time of the day or the kind of her mood, Native American. She had thick black hair and gleaming dark skin. Her eyes were slightly too big for her face and her teeth, although white, were in desperate need of braces.

However, her most attractive quality was her bold character. She was flirtatious and adventurous, not caring much for the laws or codes of the school. She spent more time in Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks than in school during a school day.

At least, that's what catches the attention of the guys.

Lily leaned against Michael, seemingly interested in what he was reading. That did it for Angel. She stormed out, tossing her aluminum tray of food into a trash bin. She knew she shouldn't waste food but she had lost her appetite completely. Watching Michael being so intimate with a girl upset her. She felt so betrayed. But she wasn't sure why.

Angel darted into the down the hallway into the music department and exited the hated school through the backdoors.

The back exit from the science department led to the "heart" of Barrie High School—the pond. Five sycamore trees and numerous maple trees surrounded a fairly large sized pond. Angel crossed the artificially green field of grass and leaned her back against a tree, facing the pond and away from school.

She was starting to get used to being ignored and starting to get used to the feeling of not belonging. But when she saw Michael, she remembered what it felt like to belong, what it felt like to have someone you trust, and what it felt like to have a friend.

Using the back of her hand, she wiped at her eyes, feeling lost.

"Rough day?" a playful voice said from above, startling her, "It looks like someone tried to drown you."


	4. Chapter 4

Angel looked up and met a pair of green eyes of a boy. He smiled widely at her with a set of almost perfect teeth, revealing dimples on his cheeks. He effortlessly scaled down the branch of the tree and dropped from several feet, landing in a crouch before her.

His white shirt was half untucked into his black pants. In his hand he carried a dry jacket which made Angel wonder how it evaded the assaults of this morning's rain. He ran his hand through his dirty blonde curls before reaching over and stroking a strand of her light brown hair.

"It's still wet from the rain," he remarked with amazement, "Your hair's like a sponge."

"Please don't remind me," Angel took a step back from the unexpected contact with the stranger, "I didn't know anyone was here, I'm sorry."

She grabbed her backpack and was about to make a run for it when he stepped around the tree and blocked her path.

"Not so fast," his smile was mischievous and Angel immediately started imagining the worst case scenarios, "I've never seen you before. Are you a freshman?"

"No, I'm a junior," her tone was defensive. She was slightly shorter than normal but a freshman? That was a little degrading.

"Whoa, there," he raised his hands and backed off a little, "No need to get so defensive. I was just curious." He stared at my face and he squinted, "Wait a minute…"

"What?" Angel's cheeks flushed. He was inspecting her so intensely…

"Nope, doesn't strike a chord," He relaxed his eyes, "So, tell me. What's your name?"

"That's for me to know and for you to wonder about."

As soon as the words tumbled out of her mouth, Angel wanted to slap herself. In her nervousness, she had become so rude! He must think terribly of her.

The corners of his mouth curved up into an amused smile, "You're a strange one. I'm-"

"Oh no, I'm so sorry," Without thinking, she burst out, "I'm usually not so rude. I'm just having a really bad day, not that any other days are any better, but…wait, what were you saying?" Angel felt the rest of the blood in her body rush up to her cheeks as she waited for him to be done with her for interrupting or find fault in her and turn away. She stared at her rain boots surrounded by squishy mud and grass, unable to watch a stranger walk away from her as well.

He laughed. Not a mocking laugh she was so used to hearing but a friendly laugh. Angel raised her eyes just a little tentatively to his face. His green eyes met hers and she averted her gaze again nervously.

"I'm Peter. Junior year," He stuck his hand out, which Angel hesitantly took, and winked at her, "And it's alright. I tend to have this kind of effect on women."

"I-It has nothing to do with that!" Angel stammered and pulled her hands away. His hand was slightly calloused and scarred. But the way his hand gently gripped hers made her shaky inside. Any contact with other students made her feel like an intruder. Including Peter.

"You're adorable when you blush like that," he laughed.

In an effort to divert the attention away from her flaming cheeks, she said, "Angel. My name is Angel. Also a junior this year."

"Angel Darling?" he looked at me up and down incredulously, "Wow, you don't look like what people say about you."


	5. Chapter 5

"W…what do they say about me?" Angel gaped in surprise. She knew people tended to ignore her but she didn't know they talked about her like this.

"I personally don't think it's bad at all," Peter shrugged, "but if you're really curious, you can ask me another time. You don't seem like the type to skip class."

She felt tears sting her eyes and blinked them away angrily. How could she have been so naïve? Of course, everyone gets talked about. But the way Peter phrased it…

"Thank you for reminding me," Angel turned away and began walking away, "I do have to go to class."

"Wait," He jogged to catch up with her, "You might catch a cold like that."

He wrapped his jacket around her shoulders.

"Peter, I can't take this," she complained and started to pull off the jacket, extremely aware of his close proximity, "It's yours-"

"How can any man with any conscience allow a lady to walk in the storm cold and wet? It's heartless."

He ran away before she could say anything else. She watched his back as he picked up his backpack and ran across the field into another building.

The jacket was green with 'Barrie High Archery' written on the back with white blocky letters. On the left sleeve was the emblem of the school's archery team. It smelled like cologne.

Angel tried to stop the heat rising to her cheeks as she tugged on the jacket tighter around her. Was this normal? Were they friends? Was she supposed to wash the jacket before returning it?

When she reached her class, she realized that as she was talking to Peter, she had completely forgotten about Michael and Lily.

She took her seat and allowed her thoughts drift as class started.

She was vaguely aware of the whispers behind her that was aimed directly at her.

"That jacket…archery team…no way that she…"

She felt her face flush. Angel immediately knew there were assumptions about her being made.

She remembered how when Michael returned with his change of physique and character, people started respecting him and admiring him even. And even when Michael was alone, he looked relaxed and…definitely _not_ lonely.

Angel wanted her chance to change, to be someone different. She wanted people to talk to her. She wanted Michael to beg her for her forgiveness. She wanted to be someone Peter approved.

(Sorry for the delayed update~ _ I'll try my best to get at least one chapter published per week :)  
Please leave a review of the story. Did you like it? Did you hate it? D: What can be improved? Suggestions for what should happen next? :))


	6. Chapter 6

The teacher's lecture digressed in a pattern of tangents as Angel stared out the window. She wondered if she would see Peter again. It wasn't every day that people talked to her in such a friendly manner.

"Hey," someone tapped her shoulder.

She turned around to face a petite blonde girl with big blue eyes. Her sleeveless white blouse was unbuttoned in a very flattering way that Angel could never pull off and her black pencil skirt barely reached half way down her pencil-thin thighs.

"Hi, I'm Tinker Bell," she smiled at me with commercial white teeth, "I've never seen you before. Are you new to the school?"

Angel stared at Tinker Bell for a moment, trying to figure out why her name sounded so familiar. Nothing came to her. It was like having a word at the tip of the tongue.

She cleared her throat before answering, "Yes, I…I suppose I am new to the school. I'm Angel Darling."

"Oh," Tinker Bell's eyes widened in mock surprise, "you're _that _Darling that everyone's talking about. You're exactly like what people say about you."

This again? Angel was dying of curiosity. Peter had claimed that it wasn't that bad and she wanted to believe him but she had her doubts.

"Is that so?" Angel answered slowly, trying not to let Tinker Bell have an advantage of knowledge over her, "I've heard different variations. What did you hear?"

"I heard some people say that you're back to public school after hiding for three years," she lowered her voice, "You know…after _Michael_." Her voice returned to normal as she continued, "And you haven't changed at _all_, Darling. You still look like you're in third grade with that…" she looked at me up and down with disapproving look, "…that kid's clothes of yours." Angel noticed how Tinker Bell's eyes lingered on the jacket for a moment.

"Thanks for letting me know," Angel smiled politely and started to turn back towards the blackboard.

"Is that Peter's?" Tinker Bell's manicured hand grabbed her shoulder before she could turn around.

"Yes," she winced at the sheer power of the girl's hand, "He let me borrow it."

"How do you know him?" her eyes narrowed and lost all signs of friendliness.

"I-I…I didn't-," Tinker Bell's venomous tone caught her off guard.

She was saved by the teacher as she announced dismissal and, half-heartedly, the homework for the night. Students threw binders and notebooks in their backpacks in a hurry to leave.

Angel quickly put everything into her backpack and started to leave.

"Darling, don't get too cozy with him," Tinker Bell hissed at her as she made her escape.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) Next chapter is in the making ^_^ I will update soon :)  
Catch you on the flip side :)**


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